Magazine-operated safety for automatic firearms



B. GUISASOLA 2,563,720

MAGAZINE-OPERATED SAFETY FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Aug. 7, 1951 Filed Aug. 26, 1947 IX'YENTOR E nnifaci m Guisanl a,

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 7, 1951 ENT MAGAZINE-OPERATED SAFETY FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Bonifacio, Guisasola, Eibar, Spain Application August 26, 1947, Serial N o.- 770,724

Claims. 1.

This invention relates to an improved, auto.- matic safety-device. for. automatic pistols.

Most automatic firearms, and. more partied-.- larly: pistols, will retain, after being fired. a. loaded. cartridge within the breech; chamber. Although in such a case the cartridge magazine may be exe tracted from: the. weapon... the retained cartridge might still discharge. usually as. the. result. of: carelessness. The consequences. of such accid nts are but too. well known.

Previous attempts to remedy this undesirable. feature have been ineffective, mainlybecause they have. not fulfilled th nr mary requ remen s that the, desired safety mechanism operate-posh tively and automatically, and. Without, need ofsupplementary: manipulation.

The principal object; of" this invention. therefar is sprovid suchan automat c safety evice As. hereinafter more particularly described, the device comprises a. substantially cylindrical body, provided with grooves and projections with Which. to attach it to the firearm'within a transverse housing provided just above the trigger 'mechanism, which body automatically blocks, orfrees the trigger, as the case may be, when the maga zinc is disengaged from, or; introduced into, its; tube, all without attention from the user.

The invention will be. moreclearlyunderstood. when considered with. referenceto the annexed drawings, forming part: of this specification, andillustrating by way of example and not of limitation a. preferred embodiment.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is. a right side view of the new and m.-- proved safety-device as adapted. to a firearm;

Fig. 2 is-a front view of the device, when. the magazine is fully 1 inserted. in the. magazine tube, and the trigger. is unimpeded. and in dottedlines the positionofthesafety device when the mag .a zine is out and the trigger isestop-ped.

Fig. 3' is afront; view of the cylindrical body that-is. the principal. component'of the safetydevice.

Fig... 4 is avertical section of the cylindrical body, taken alongthe line'lV--IV of Fiat. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the cylindricalbody, taken along the.1i-n-e-V-V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 isa. diagrammatic plan. of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is-a side'view: of Fig. 6...

Fig. 8 is: a side View of a holdin pin; and lock used with the cylindrical body.

Fig. 9. is aside view of a cylindrical spring usedwith. the holding pin of. Fig. 8..

Elle sarety-device-formingthe. object. oi this invention comprises-a substantially cylindrical; main. body I, formed at. one. of its ends withareduced. cylindrical neck: 2 concentric. therewith. At the other end. of. the. body I, and integral therewith, is a, semi-cylindrical boss 3 provided.

with a'radially projecting arm-4.. The lower; end of the arm 4', near the boss 3., has an inclined.- surface 5 against which themagazine I may slide; The central fore part of. the body I has a curved...

nearly vertical1y., deviated recess 6 (Figs. 3 and. 5) to movably fit the back face of the magazine.

I. The central under part of the body I is;

provided. with a rectangular horizontally-directed trigger way 8 (Fi s. sand 8) with. verticalside walls 9, to enable the trigger 2| to reach. the discharge releasing panel (not shown).

The body I. has a. longitudinal bore in 6. .6811.- tric to its axis, with an opening from the right. side, as viewed. inFigz- 6,; and terminating in an end wall IT. The body I also has a longitudinal.

roove. I I extendin halrits length and merging downwardly into the: bore Ill. versalgroove I2; extending from the base. or;

the arm 4 to the longitudinal groove II (Fig. 6):

and 'likewisecommunicating with the longitudir nalbore. Ill.

To; maintain. the safety-device. in operative, position, a cylindrical holding pin l3 (Fig; 8) hav ing a head I4 and lock: I5, is adapted, to slidablyengage thebore II] and rooves II and I2, re.--- spectively. The head I4 has an annular; face 1 on the side-facing the pin I3, and the helical spring I8 i designed to encirclethe pin I3 and, abut the-face I6. Hence. when the pin I3 and spring I'8 are assembled with the body I, the.

The body I and associated projecting members can effectuate a slighttransverse sliding motion within their housing I 9. The reduced cylindrical neck 2 of the body I projects through an aperture 2d (Fig. 2) in the firearm frame 2!], while the arm 4 moves to the, left within a radial recess 25 in the housing I9, thus presenting undesired rotation of the safety-device.

To. assemble the safety-device and secure it to the frame 20 of thefirearm, the holding. pin. l3.-i.s

It has a trans.

held in the right hand, and the spring I8 is drawn over it with the left hand. Then the body I is held in the left hand, and the right hand introduces the pin I3 and spring I8 into the bore I in the body I. The rear face of the head I4 is provided with a slot 26, and this slot 26 is engaged with a screwdriver to compress the spring I8 until the lock I enters the groove I I then the screwdriver is turned counterclockwise until the lock I5 is held within the vertical groove I2 (position A in Fig. 4). The safety-device is now ready to be introduced into the housing I9 of the frame 28, from the right, so that the arm 4 is nested within its complementary recess 25, to the point where the transverse groove I2 of the body I coincides with the circular groove 23 of the housing I9 of the frame 20. The screwdriver then rotates the slot 26 clockwise until the lock I5 is again opposite the longitudinal groove II (position b in Fig. 4), which is its normal position. The outwardly projecting portion of the lock I5, beyond the cylindrical portion of the body I, has now engaged'the circular groove 23, whereby the holding pin I3 is locked to the frame and the safety device secured in working position. The spring I8, compressed between the immovable annual face I6 and the end wall I! of the bore II], which end wall I I is movable with respect to the pin I3, expands and forces the body I toward the left, thereby projecting the reduced portion 2 through the aperture 24, beyond the left wall of the frame 20.

To remove the safety-device, the body I is forced to the right by pressing the reduced neck 2 against the left surface of the frame 20, there by coinciding the grooves I2 and 23 and permiting removing of the safety-device from the frame 20.

In brief, the operation of the device is as follows:

The magazine I having been withdrawn, the safety-device occupies the extreme left hand position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. As the magazine I is introduced, it encounters, near the end of its travel, the arm 4. The inclined surface 5 on the arm 4 acts like a cam and slides along the magazine 1 and toward the right, until the vertical upper half of the arm 4' is in contact with the magazine I. Since the arm 4 is integral with the body I, the body I, under pressure of the spring I8, likewise slides to the right, so that the longitudinal groove II moves with respect to the fixed lock I5, and the bore Ill with respect to the fixed head III of the pin I3, until the body I occupies the extreme right hand position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. 7

The horizontal trigger way 8 (Fig. 3) is now in a position whereby the beak 22 of the trigger 2I may pass unhindered, so that it can actuate the firing pin. 7

When the, magazine 7 is withdrawn, the pressure against the arm 4 is released, and the body I is biased by the spring I8 toward the left, until the left end face 28 of the body I engages the opposite face 29 (Fig. 6) of the frame 20. The safety device now again occupies the left hand position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Here a stop 30 (Figs. 2 and 3) onthe body I projects into the trigger way 8 to block movement of the trigger 2I while the magazine I is disengaged. Hence, the firearm cannot be discharged while the magazine I is out.

I claim:

1. In an automatic firearm having a removable magazine and a firing mechanism including a trigger, wherein a cartridge may remain in firing position when the magazine is removed; safety means automatically actuated by removal of the magazine blocking the firing movement of the trigger to fire the cartridge in firing position, said safety means comprising a safety bolt extending transversely of the firearm, yieldable means urging said safety bolt intothe firing path of movement of the trigger, and. cam means on said bolt cooperating with the magazine when in position moving said bolt out of the path of the trigger.

2. A safety bolt as set forth in claim 1 including in combination therewith a locking pin, a locking finger extending from one side of said pin, said safety bolt being cored to receive said locking pin therewithin and slotted to provide a path of entry to said locking finger, said locking finger extending beyond said locking bolt into a cooperating slot in the firearm, said yieldable means comprising a coil spring located about said locking pin.

3. A safety bolt as set forth in claim 1 comprising a cylindrical member, a reduced cylindrical neck extending from one end of said cylindrical member, the firearm having a complementary shaped recess extending across the path of the magazine and the firing path of the trigger,

said cylindrical member being of greater length than the width of the trigger, a cutaway in one side of said cylindrical member of just suflicient width to allow the trigger to move therethrough, said yieldable means moving said bolt laterally to move said cutaway out of registration with trigger path, and a cammed surface on said cylindrical member cooperating with the magazine as it is installed to move said bolt to cause said cutaway to register with the trigger path.

4. In an automatic firearm having a removable magazine and a firing mechanism including a trigger, wherein a cartridge may remain in firing position when the magazine is removed; a safety means blocking the firing movement of the trigger comprising a cylindrical member, a cylindrical neck extending axially from one end of said cylindrical member, the firearm having a lateral recess, complementary to said cylindrical member and neck, intercepting the trigger path and the magazine path, a cutaway in said cylindrical member complementary to a portion of the magazine, another cutaway complementary to the firing path of the trigger, said cylindrical member having an eccentric bore extending longitudinally from the end opposite to the end from which the neck extends, said bore being 7 counterbored, a holding pin complementary to said counter bore having a locking finger extending radially from the larger end of said holding pin. a coil spring about the smaller end of said holding pin arranged to be biased between the end of the small end of the counterbore in said cylindrical member and the shoulder of the larger end of the holding pin, a T-slot in said cylindrical member extending to the larger bore of its counterbore, the head of said T-slot at one end extending to the end of the cylindrical member and arranged to have the locking finger of said holding pin extend therethrough and into a bayonet joint groove in the cylindrical wall of the firearm recess, an arm extending radially from the larger bored end of said cylindrical member into a complementary groove in a wall of the firearm cylindrical recess and intercepting the magazine path, a cam formed on said arm arranged to be contacted by the magazine as it reaches its operative position to move said cylindrical mem- 5 6 be! laterally against its spring action and thus REFERENCES CITED bung the trigger cutaway in Said cynndncal The following references are of record in the member into coincidence with the trigger path, file of this patent: the spring serving to move the cylindrical member laterally in the opposite direction when the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS magazine is removed from contact with the cam Number Name Date arm moving the trigger cutaway out of coinci- 1,121,437 Whiting Dec. 15, 1914 dence with the trigger path causing the cylin- 1,389,944 Garrison Sept. 6, 1921 drical member to block ofi the trigger path and 1,638,068 Tansley Aug. 9, 1927 prevent firing movement of the trigger. 10 1,805,383 Thiry May 12, 1931 BON'IFACIO GUISASOLA. 2,296,998 Koehler Sept. 29, 1942 

